


OnexRose Valentine

by asarahworld



Series: The Doctor and Rose Tyler [42]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Timepetalsprompts, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 01:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14009532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asarahworld/pseuds/asarahworld
Summary: Insp. by a OnexRose Valentine moodboard.  Reunion fic.





	OnexRose Valentine

“And do you have a name, child?” The Doctor asked impatiently. Despite his insistence that he was no medical professional, Chatterton had insisted that he help the disoriented young girl.

“Rose…’m Rose,” she began to sit up, resting against the TARDIS door. Curious, the Doctor tried to look in her timeline, shocked to see that her past intricately intertwined with his future. He was even more surprised when the TARDIS recognized her, his own mental link with the timeship strengthening when it connected with the girl.

Inside the ship, Susan was watching the viewer with great interest. “The girl, she knows Grandfather!” She exclaimed.

“Do you know her, Susan?” Ian asked.

“No, of course not, Ian. She’s from Grandfather’s future – he’s never met her before,” Susan explained patiently, though Ian detected that she was slightly disappointed that he had not been able to make that connection.

“The ship recognizes you,” the Doctor mused aloud.

“S nice,” the girl said faintly, clearly trying to catch her breath. “I’ve missed her.”

“How does my ship know you, hmm?” The Doctor asked, piercing her with a curious look.

“What can I tell you? The Doctor – my Doctor, the future you I travelled with – said that I can’t interact with my past self, but he never mentioned anything about his past self.”

“There are methods that allow me to block memories until I’ve passed a certain point in my lifetime, child,” the Doctor brushed off her concern. “The ship, girl.”

“Bad Wolf,” the girl said quietly. “I am the Bad Wolf. The Doctor thought he’d wiped her from my mind, but it’s still there. It’s the TARDIS. We… connected, I suppose you could say. The Doctor saved me from…something, and then I could communicate with the TARDIS.” The girl looked at him (dare he think it?) rather wistfully.

“Bad Wolf? What is Bad Wolf, child? Speaking in riddles, are we?” The Doctor harrumphed.

“M trying not to tell you your future, Doctor.”

The TARDIS connected with the Doctor’s mind, showing him exactly what had happened to the strange girl. “You should have died.”

“The Doctor saved me,” the girl – Rose, repeated.

This girl had looked into Time itself and survived. “Who are you, child?”

“Rose. My name is Rose.”

Inside the TARDIS, the occupants were theorizing who the strange woman was.

“She’s not a Time Lord,” Susan said plaintively. “It’s obvious.”

“Time Lord?” Ian looked away from the viewer.

“That’s who we are. Grandfather and I, we’re Time Lords. Or, he is, anyway. I never went to the Academy,” Susan replied absently, focusing on the stranger.

“I don’t suppose that we’ve landed at home,” Barbara folded her hands, sitting in the chair. “It’s all very well to be meeting people who apparently know the Doctor already, but I’d like to know where we are.”

“Earth. Paris, I think,” Susan fiddled with a dial, bringing up the space-time coordinates.

“Oh, it’s not your fault, Susan. Just wishing thinking, I suppose.”

The girl looked around, before glancing back at the Doctor. “When are we?”

When are we. Not where, the Doctor noted. “Two thousand four,” he answered her question, careful to watch her response.

“Looks like the middle of February,” Rose commented. The air was cold, but there were a few street vendors milling about, selling their wares. There was a flower stall nearby, a single pink rose left for sale. She was too early. Not that the year mattered, but this was the Doctor, long before he’d met her. Long before he’d had the slightest inkling of the terrible war that was ahead of him. She felt the TARDIS key grow hot around her neck, smiling sadly.

“Is that key for the TARDIS?” The Doctor’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Yeah. Been using it to…” She trailed off, unsure how to explain. “I travelled with you, in the future. But I got lost, hopelessly lost, and ‘m trying to get back. ‘M using the key as a homing device.”

“Through space and time?” The Doctor asked, peering at the key.

“I didn’t think that I’d end up this far out. Where I’m getting back from, time runs ahead.” Rose kept her explanation short.

“Most intriguing, my dear, most intriguing. And yet you still haven’t said why you’re travelling across space-time, hmm?”

Rose stared at him. “Isn’t it obvious?” The Doctor merely gave her a look. “I said ‘m trying to get back. To you, the proper you, further down your timeline. I…” She closed her mouth. The last time she’d said those words, he’d faded from view right in front of her.

“Yes?” The Doctor prompted her.

“I love you,” she whispered, looking away. She did, she loved him so much, but the man in front of her didn’t know who she was. Oh, his face was just as unfamiliar to her as hers was to him, but there was a spark in his eye that yearned for adventure. The same man, always.

The Doctor was shocked. If Chesterton were out here, he’d more than likely make some offhanded quip about that coming from right field or some nonsense, he thought vaguely.

“Sorry,” she hurriedly swiped at her eyes. “It’s just that the last time I told you, you disappeared right in front of me.” Something beeped and she looked down. “Two minute signal. If I don’t find you, I get pulled back automatically after a certain period of time. It’s ready to go back, now.”

The Doctor pulled a necklace from his pocket. A locket. “I suspect, my dear, that you were meant to be here at this time.” He pressed the chain into Rose’s hand. “This is less conspicuous than carrying a key around one’s neck.” He popped it open, placing the key over the picture frame. He smiled at Rose’s shocked expression as she watched her key shrink to fit inside. More hesitantly, he undid the clasp, holding the chain up by both ends; Rose bent her head forward and he clasped it around her neck.

“Rose,” the Doctor finally used her name. “That’s the name of my granddaughter, you know.”

“No,” Rose whispered. “I didn’t know.” She touched the necklace reverently.

“I hope you find me,” he smiled.

Rose couldn’t help but smile in return. “Doctor,” she slowly faded from view.


End file.
